At Kemp Little, we are known for our ability to serve the very particular needs of a large but diverse technology client base. Our hands-on industry know-how makes us a good fit with many of the world's biggest technology and digital media businesses, yet means we are equally relevant to companies with a technology bias, in sectors such as professional services, financial services, retail, travel and healthcare.

Kemp Little specialises in the technology and digital media sectors and provides a range of legal services that are crucial to fast-moving, innovative businesses.Our blend of sector awareness, technical excellence and responsiveness, means we are regularly ranked as a leading firm by directories such as Legal 500, Chambers and PLC Which Lawyer. Our practice areas cover a wide range of legal issues and advice.

Our Commercial Technology team has established itself as one of the strongest in the UK. We are ranked in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and PLC Which Lawyer, with four of our partners recommended.

Our team provides practical and commercial advice founded on years of experience and technical know-how to technology and digital media companies that need to be alert to the rules and regulations of competition law.

Our Corporate Practice has a reputation for delivering sound legal advice, backed up with extensive industry experience and credentials, to get the best results from technology and digital media transactions.

In the fast-changing world of employment law our clients need practical, commercial and cost-effective advice. They get this from our team of employment law professionals.

Our team of leading IP advisors deliver cost-effective, strategic and commercial advice to ensure that your IP assets are protected and leveraged to add real value to your business.

Our litigation practice advises on all aspects of dispute resolution, with a particular focus on ownership, exploitation and infringement of intellectual property rights and commercial disputes in the technology sector.

We have an industry-leading reputation for our outsourcing expertise. Our professionals deliver credible legal advice to providers and acquirers of IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

We work alongside companies, many with disruptive technologies, that seek funding, as well as with the venture capital firms, institutional investors and corporate ventures that want to invest in exciting business opportunities.

With a service that is commercial and responsive to our clients needs, you will find our tax advice easy to understand, cost-effective and geared towards maximising your tax benefits.

At Kemp Little, we advise clients in diverse sectors where technology is fundamental to the ongoing success of their businesses.They include companies that provide technology as a service and businesses where the use of technology is key to their business model, enabling them to bring their product or service to market.

We bring our commercial understanding of digital business models, our legal expertise and our reputation for delivering high quality, cost-effective services to this dynamic sector.

Acting for market leaders and market changers within the media industry, we combine in-depth knowledge of the structural technology that underpins content delivery and the impact of digitisation on the rights of producers and consumers.

We understand the risks facing this sector and work with our clients to conquer those challenges. Testimony to our success is the continued growth in our team of professionals and the clients we serve.

We advise at the forefront of the technological intersection between life sciences and healthcare. We advise leading technology and data analytics providers, healthcare institutions as well as manufacturers of medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnological products.

For clients operating in the online sector, our teams are structured to meet their commercial, financing, M&A, competition and regulatory, employment and intellectual property legal needs.

Our focus on technology makes us especially well positioned to give advice on the legal aspects of digital marketing. We advise on high-profile, multi-channel, cross-border cases and on highly complex campaigns.

The mobile and telecoms sector is fast changing and hugely dependent on technology advances. We help mobile and wireless and fixed telecoms clients to tackle the legal challenges that this evolving sector presents.

Whether ERP, Linux or Windows; software or infrastructure as a service in the cloud, in a virtualised environment, or as a mobile or service-oriented architecture, we have the experience to resolve legal issues across the spectrum of commercial computer platforms.

Our clients trust us to apply our solutions and know-how to help them make the best use of technology in structuring deals, mitigating key risks to their businesses and in achieving their commercial objectives.

We have extensive experience of advising customers and suppliers in the retail sector on technology development, licensing and supply projects, and in advising on all aspects of procurement and online operations.

Our legal professionals work alongside social media providers and users in relation to the commercial, privacy, data, advertising, intellectual property, employment and corporate issues that arise in this dynamic sector.

Our years of working alongside diverse software clients have given us an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the software marketplace, market practice and alternative negotiating strategies.

Working with direct providers of travel services, including aggregators, facilitators and suppliers of transport and technology, our team has developed a unique specialist knowledge of the sector

Your life as an entrepreneur is full of daily challenges as you seek to grow your business. One of the key strengths of our firm is that we understand these challenges.

Kemp Little is trusted by some of the worlds leading luxury brands and some of the most innovative e-commerce retailers changing the face of the industry.

HR Bytes is an exclusive, comprehensive, online service that will provide you with a wide range of practical, insightful and current employment law information. HR Bytes members get priority booking for events, key insight and a range of employment materials for free.

FlightDeck is our portal designed especially with start-up and emerging technology businesses in mind to help you get your business up and running in the right way. We provide a free pack of all the things no-one tells you and things they dont give away to get you started.

Key legal issues for start-ups in their first 100 days

There are a tremendous number of legal issues for start-ups to consider in their first 100 days; from establishing a company and brand, to preparing to sell new products or services and employing staff to help the business succeed. Navigating a tangled web of legal considerations with limited or no legal experience, increases the risk that problems crop up in the future. It’s therefore crucial to get things right, or it may be costly.

At the beginning it’s advisable to limit your liability to protect your exposure to any personal financial risk. It’s achieved by establishing a separate legal personality to the founders; the most commonly used vehicle for start-ups is a private limited company. Head to Companies House and choose an available company name and register your company. You’ll need to adopt articles of association, which is the company’s internal “rule book”. Private limited companies need a least one person appointed as a director, and every director has certain duties imposed on them, which are owed to the company.

If there’s more than one founder, you should consider a shareholders’ agreement setting out the relationship between the shareholders and their respective rights and obligations. It should cover key matters, including the board composition and what happens if someone leaves.

Once your company is established, you may seek to raise additional equity from investors or provide financial incentives to key individuals in the company. One option is to issue shares, but before you do, you’ll need the approval of the board of directors. The directors will need to convene a board meeting and decide to issue the shares by a board resolution. Avoid falling foul of the law by filing forms relating to the share allotment, registering the new shareholders on the company’s register and issuing share certificates to them.

However, rather than give away precious equity (shares can be difficult to get back if things go sour), you may decide to incentivise promising employees with share options. Employees receive a share of the growth in value of the company and have the choice to acquire shares in the future at an agreed price and subject to specified conditions.

Having established a company, founders should think about their intellectual property rights protection. Your first priority is to conduct online searches to find out what is already ‘taken’ by others in your chosen industry and key territories. Being mindful of what’s already out there will hopefully avoid disputes or the need to undertake an expensive re-brand further down the line. Bear in mind it’s not just identical marks you need to steer clear of; someone with a confusingly similar mark and operating in the same field, might be able to prevent you using your chosen brand.

Trade mark registrations are valuable monopolies and give the right to use a name or logo for specific products or services to the exclusion of others. This helps build brand identity, reputation and value. You should consider applying for a registration in your focus countries (e.g. the UK, or an EU-wide right). Simply registering a domain name for your chosen name is unlikely to give you rights that you can rely upon in contrast to a third party with a trade mark registration: the domain name being available is unfortunately not a reliable green light.

In addition to brands, certain new inventions can be protected by filing for patents. Like trade marks, patents are jurisdictional and enforceable in only those countries where you obtain a patent. They give you a 20-year-right to stop third parties carrying out the invention you describe. Unfortunately, patents are expensive to obtain (unlike trade marks) and difficult to get for software inventions (especially in Europe). Filing for a patent requires you to disclose your idea to the world, but it may be preferable to rely on keeping your invention secret.

Feeling ready to take your idea to market? Pause and don’t rush into opportunities. Before discussing opportunities with suppliers or customers, it’s advisable to consider a confidentiality agreement. It obligates both parties to keep discussions confidential; facilitating open dialog in a safe environment to get the best outcome for both parties.

It’s important to draft terms and conditions to govern the sale of your product or the supply of your service. Terms and conditions should at the very least:

set clear rights and obligations for both parties, including how you will deliver the products or provide the services, and any payment obligations on the customer;

allocate liability for when things go wrong, and how and where the parties will resolve disputes (ideally in the English courts); and

cover provisions such as how the parties can terminate the contract (if perhaps the interests of the parties change), and what law will apply to your agreement (English law is a safe bet).

An important consideration and rising concern for companies is the requirement to keep customers’ personal data secure; if you are controlling or processing any personal data, you’ll need to comply with data protection legislation. Put simply, personal data is information that can identify a living individual (either on its own, or in combination with other information under, or likely to come under, your control), and ‘processing’ is defined very widely. An awareness of cyber security risks is important, especially if you’re developing a new product that might be exposed to a cyber-attack.

Need support to grow your business? Is a contractor providing discrete services, or an employee, right for you? A contractor (or freelancer) isn’t afforded the same employment rights as employees and can be attractive to businesses limiting their exposure to employment costs. Be mindful that HMRC will scrutinise the reality of these arrangements. If HMRC thinks your freelancer is actually your employee, you may be liable for certain employment costs (e.g. any unpaid income tax). Don’t forget that freelancers own the IP they create unless your contract provides otherwise.

Employers have greater control over employees, but must comply with a raft of obligations; from statutory leave and minimum rest breaks, to minimum pension contributions, wages and sick pay. Employees are entitled to a basic written “section 1 statement” of their employment terms. While this may be appropriate for junior employees, it doesn’t provide more sophisticated protection around confidentiality, IP or post-termination competition. An employment contract is your opportunity to set more comprehensive boundaries and protections.

Employers must register as an employer with HMRC to deduct income tax and national insurance contributions through payroll. As an employer, you’re legally obliged to have in place employer’s liability insurance cover (for at least £5 million) and if you employ more than 5 people, a written health and safety policy. As you grow you will want to put in place policies dealing with other aspects of the employment relationship, e.g. equal opportunities, IT/communications use and family leave.

Finally, if you have identified a non-EEA national as being key to your business in the UK, then you should think carefully about how to employ them here legally. At all stages of the employment lifecycle, be mindful of your anti-discrimination obligations.

It’s clear that start-ups face a significant legal burden, which can seem overwhelming for first-time entrepreneurs. Founders often have limited resources to manage all that it takes to start a company, establish a brand and take their concept to market. Therefore, it’s no surprise that legal issues sometimes fall to the bottom of the list. If you are unsure where you stand, you should seek independent legal advice quickly.